1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to elastic solid-form food products which contain citrus-juice pulp solids and which exhibit prolonged moisture retention. More particularly, the present invention relates to intermediate moisture foods especially in cylindrical form comprising sweetened residual citrus juice vessicle solids from orange juice.
2. The Prior Art
Certain waste materials are produced in the manufacture of orange, grapefruit, lemon, etc. juice from the citrus fruit. For years problems with the disposal of the waste citrus material has prompted attempts to utilize this waste material. Initial screening separates layer material such as peel and seeds from the juice. Generally, the layer material is dried, comminuted, and used for cattle feed. Alternatively, the peel material can be elaborately processed to provide purified pectin useful for jelly, jam and the like.
Finer materials (i.e., pulp) associated with the juice are similarly segregated from the juice by screening. A variety of terms have been loosely used in the art to refer to this pulp material or parts thereof in its various physical or processed forms. It has been called at various times in its untreated state, "juice vessicles", "juice sacs" or "finisher pulp". The juice vessicles are the membranes forming the juice sacs. During juicing operations, the juice sacs rupture and release their juice. Thus, for purposes of the present invention "juice vessicles" is used synonymously for the residual citrus juice sac materials remaining after the release of the juice from the juice sac.
The finisher pulp typically is combined with the peel residue and the mixture is used for cattle feed since the pulp is not a good source of pectin compared to the peel itself. In some instances, the pulp is recovered and freeze-dried to be used in dry juice powders which form orange juice drinks when reconstituted with water (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,246,993 issued Apr. 19, 1966 to R. C. Webster et al). In commercial juice production, the pulp is washed to recover cold water soluble sugars which are present in the pulp material in dilute amounts. Although the cold water soluble sugars are initially present in relatively high concentrations on a dry solids basis, e.g., 30% by weight, on a wet basis the sugars concentration is quite low since the total solids content of the finisher pulp is only 3% to 5%. Some pectin-like materials are also washed away along with the soluble sugars to leave a material dubbed "washed juice vessicles". Both washed and unwashed juice vessicle material which has been drum dried, spray dried or solvent dried has been suggested for use as a food additive. Such suggested utilization is based upon the excellent water-binding and the good oil-binding properties of the material. One reference (see "Processing and Potential Uses for Dried Juice Sacs," by J. W. Kesterson and R. J. Braddock, Food Technology, Feb. 1973, pp. 52-54) suggests its utilization in a wide variety of food products, but has no teaching of actual use in any food product.
However, notwithstanding such optimistic speculation concerning potential usage, difficulties have arisen in the practical efforts to utilize the juice vessicle material or protopectin material derived therefrom even in additive amounts. Several art efforts have been made at incorporating small amounts into breads or cakes of treated protopectin derived from citrus residue including from dried vessicles (see U.S. Pat. No. 2,952,548 issued Sept. 13, 1960 to L. T. Work; U.S. Pat. No. 3,190,756 issued June 22, 1965 to W. Aurell; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,196,020, issued July 20, 1965 to W. Aurell). These patents disclose elaborately treating the protopectin with various lipids or colloid materials to decrease the rate or amount of hydration of the protopectins. Without such treatment, these patents teach that the rapid hydration of these extremely hydrophilic materials causes doughs or batters to set quickly into non-elastic solid masses which are unsuitable for bread or cake production. Alternatively, it has been taught that cakes containing small amounts of untreated protopectin can be realized by formulating doughs of low gluten flours such as potato flour. (See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,865,757 issued Dec. 23, 1958 to W. Aurell).
Given the above-described problems and difficulties in providing any food products containing even minor amounts of residual juice vessicle material, it is not surprising that no art attempts have realized food products which comprise major amounts of this material. Thus, there is clearly a continuing need for new and useful food products which utilize this previously discarded material and which are organoleptically acceptable for sale as consumer products. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide edible consumer food products which contain major amounts of residual juice vessicles and which are organoleptically acceptable.
In particular, it is a further object of this present invention to provide snack food products in the form of sweetened residual citrus food vessicles.
In the past, a number of fruit flavor snack or candy products have been marketed or developed. Fruit flavored candy products are usually based upon corn syrup, and include sugar with added artificial flavors or colors. Typically, these products are hard, brittle and non-elastic. Other snack food products include, for example, "Fruit Roll" in various fruit flavors marketed by Knox Gelatin, Inc. This product is characterized by a leathery constituency. It is apparently based on fruit purees or concentrates, gelatins and starch. Even when carefully packaged, however, such snack food products have limited shelf stability due to moisture loss. The moisture loss can lead to such appearance degradation as shriveling and such textural degradation as undesirable increases in toughness and such organoleptic degradation as decreased moist mouthfeel.
Accordingly, it is a further object of the present invention to provide snack food products containing residual juice vessicle material and which exhibit high moisture retention.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide fruit-containing snack food products containing juice vessicle material derived from orange juice and which are moisture stable.
It has been surprisingly discovered that the above objectives can be realized and superior food products provided by formulating compositions comprising certain amounts of conventional sweetening agents, juice vessicle material, edible acids and having certain moisture contents and moisture activities.